lockout vs u-turn...what would be your priority?

rossedintranslation
edited May 2008 in MTB buying advice
test riding a few bikes in the morning as It appears I'm either really fussy or indicisive (mongoose amasa elite, scott reflex 20, and gt avalanche 1.0 [and yes, i've tested that already, but cheking it for comparison again]). the cube acid appears to be likely to take ages, and i'm quite happy to get something else so i can start enjoying myself.

thing is, there's not a great deal between all 3, and if it comes down to enjoying the ride on all 3 then it's probably going to come down to what suits my needs most regarding the fork (the gt and scott have lockable forks which aren't adjustable for travel though, the mongoose a tora 289, which isn't lockable but adjusts from 85-130mm).

50/50 use between light town use and xc trails at the weekends. If given the choice, would you pick being able to lock the fork out (as in the dart 2) or being able to adjust the travel (as in the tora 289), and is the tora worth paying a little extra for?

Having not had a bike with a suspension fork on it before, I don't know if it's likely to get annoying on roads if i can't lock it, but then don't know if it's worth not having the lockout so as to gain the extra travel from the tora.

Has anyone been using a fork (like the suntour xcr-100, dart 2, or tora 289) and wished they'd got something different for any reason?

I'm starting to confuse myself!

Comments

  • The Big Cheese
    The Big Cheese Posts: 8,651
    Tora's are great forks... imo better than the dart

    BUT lockout is invaluable and I use it a lot.... road riding and climbs......

    You can live a lot easier without u-turn
  • Will the LBS upgrade the tora 289's to 318 airs?
  • Will the LBS upgrade the tora 289's to 318 airs?

    don't know actually, but I'll be sure to ask them. I really didn't want to spend over 500 quid, so £569 is already pushing my budget a tad!

    If an upgrade would mean going even further then I'm not sure I wouldn't be better just getting something like a rockhopper disc, which has a tora with lockout anyway. It was the first bike I'd looked at and decided it was just pushing the budget too far, and I've been backwards comparing everything else with it ever since. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and buy one, even if it means having one less curry some time later in the month! (then again, there are probably yet another huge range of options at 600 smackers...)
  • dav1
    dav1 Posts: 1,298
    I have the 302 u-turns and use the lockout much more then I use the U turn.
    Giant TCR advanced 2 (Summer/race)
    Merlin single malt fixie (Commuter/winter/training)
    Trek superfly 7 (Summer XC)
    Giant Yukon singlespeed conversion (winter MTB/Ice/snow)

    Carrera virtuoso - RIP
  • xtreem
    xtreem Posts: 2,965
    Hey rossedintranslation why don't you go for both lockout and U-turn, plus a full suspension bike.
    It's 2007 model but you get Tora 318 U-turn and lockout and I think is a great bike

    BeOne Nirvana 3.0 FS 536£
    here's a link: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=14978

    I think that's the best bike you can buy for that money.
  • Chaka Ping
    Chaka Ping Posts: 1,451
    Depends on the range of the U-Turn and the bike it's on.

    I use it more than I do the lockout on my Cove, because I think lowering the fork travel aids climbing more than lockout.

    But I can quite imagine U-turn being less useful on a bike designed around 100mm of travel in the first place - because the geometry would probably make it a more natural climber - and so lockout would give more benefit.

    Hope that makes sense.
  • Sheppy
    Sheppy Posts: 140
    I have a bike with Dart 2 and different bike with Tora 302 Air. The Dart 2 is pretty rubbish in comparison IMO... I'm not saying the Tora is the bees knees but it's much better than the Dart.
    Also, I know it's very much a personal thing but I never bother to lockout the fork even when on the road.
  • hoathy
    hoathy Posts: 776
    Xtreem wrote:
    Hey rossedintranslation why don't you go for both lockout and U-turn, plus a full suspension bike.
    It's 2007 model but you get Tora 318 U-turn and lockout and I think is a great bike

    BeOne Nirvana 3.0 FS 536£
    here's a link: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=14978

    I think that's the best bike you can buy for that money.

    might be a bit of a pain having to ride a full sus on the road all the time, and didn't thins bike get slated in a magazine test recently for its frame?
    - Kona Hot '96 - Marin Rift Zone '09 - Cannondale Synapse Carbon '06 - Kona Caldera '98 - Kona AA '94 - Dawes Kickback II - Cannondale BadBoy '11 - Genesis iOiD SS -
  • CraigXXL
    CraigXXL Posts: 1,852
    I have the GT Avalanche 1.0 disc with the Suntour X-100 forks. I think the bike is great value for the money, feels and handles like a much more expensive bike. I've never bottomed the forks out on their standard settings and i'm no light weight. The forks have lock out which Cheesey mentioned early are great for climbing and tarmacs. I don't notice the forks doing their thing so that must be good as they just float over everything with no nasty jolts or bad tracking. I found the standard seat not to my liking and changed that to a Spesh and I've also changed to the tyres to Fire Pro's.

    I could spend extra on forks but at the moment it would a waste of money as I wouldn't the best out of them.
  • streako
    streako Posts: 2,937
    I have PIKE u-turns and I wish I'd have got the fixed travel model.

    The U-turn is fiddly to use and the forks tend to knock when at their lowest. Plus the non u-turn model was cheaper.

    Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none, is the phrase that comes to mind.

    Lockout is especially useful if you like to climb out of the saddle and avoid bounce.
  • BlackSpur
    BlackSpur Posts: 4,228
    As far as I understand it (please corrct me if I'm wrong), but on U-Turn makes the forks firmer by changing the compression rate when the travel is wound down anyway. If it was me, It would be between the GT and the Mongoose I'd want a better fork than that of the Scott. You'll be wuite lucky to find the GT in stock anywhere though, apparently there are very few in the whole of Europe.
    "Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling." ~James E. Starrs
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Yes, the uturn adjusts spring rate.

    I'd be looking at how good the fork is when its moving, not when locked out! Tora way better than a dart - and some toas have uturn and lockout.
  • dav1
    dav1 Posts: 1,298
    http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/?acti ... 8&brandID=

    that one is a steal at that price IMO.

    If it was a raw choice between u-turn and lockout i think i would take lockout.

    From a fork perspective though suntors are a mixed bag, some a great whilst others are horrible.

    Dart 2s are not bad forks, ride quite nicely but not as good as the tora.

    Tora are the best there (next range up from the dart) but if you are really going to miss the lockout you may regret it.

    It is a thogh choice, when i was commuting on my MTB i perfered to have the lockout on so it may be worth it for that perspective, but you will sacrifice a tad in terms of quility.
    Giant TCR advanced 2 (Summer/race)
    Merlin single malt fixie (Commuter/winter/training)
    Trek superfly 7 (Summer XC)
    Giant Yukon singlespeed conversion (winter MTB/Ice/snow)

    Carrera virtuoso - RIP
  • BlackSpur wrote:
    You'll be wuite lucky to find the GT in stock anywhere though, apparently there are very few in the whole of Europe.

    just bought the 20" (large) avalanche 1.0 from Gear Bikes in Glasgow. Evans (Glasgow) had one in that size too, but Gear were prepared to give me nicer platform pedals without charging me extra.

    after trying them all out, there's not a lot between them, although I preferred the suntour x-100 to the dart 2. The GT felt a bit more fun, whilst still being pretty sturdy. I got the feeling I'd end up breaking the Scott, although I think it felt quite racey. The mongoose was good too, but I decided I wanted the lockout, and meant I could save myself 70 quid in beer money.

    So far very happy with the GT, battered it around kelvingrove park for an hour and it seems lots of fun.
  • abbots_mike
    abbots_mike Posts: 280
    have one of the scott reflex's and i can assure you that it ownt break, mne has survived me since august! but either way, you like the bike you got and feel comfortable with it , so all is good
  • stumpyjon
    stumpyjon Posts: 4,069
    It all depends on the bike and the fork. I have lockout and travel adjust on one bike (Stumpy FSR with a Fox Talas 140mm fork) and lockout only on the other (100mm Reba Team on a Kinesis Maxlight hardtail).

    I tend to lock both forks out on the road, especially the Rebas as they have a poploc but I don't always remember and the ride isn't so bad it reminds me, so I could live without lockout.

    I do use the travel adjust on the Fox forks alot but I think this is down to ease of use (can easily change settings whilst moving unlike the U-turn from what I've seen of it) and the fact it does help considerably when climbing. That said the Rebas don't have travel adjust and so far I haven't felt the need to lower them anyway, I think the fork frame combination is better set up for climbing being an XC hardtail.

    If it was me I would try and buy the better fork, it'll probably behave better on road and reduce the need for lockout. Travel adjust is really dependant on the frame / fork combination so may not be necessary, i.e. there probably would not be a lot of benefit from having travel adjust on a 100mm fork with a compatible frame anyway.

    It's all down to personal taste as usual, go for the better fork if possible, but not at the expense of overall feel of the bike (point I think already made by CRAIGXXL).
    It's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

    I've bought a new bike....ouch - result
    Can I buy a new bike?...No - no result
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    Ive had 100mm toras with poploc, used that a lot to stiffen things up for roadwork. I currently have DJ3's which bob like anything and i miss poploc.

    I also have pike u-turns. I use it all the time when riding it isn't that awkward
  • Steve_b77
    Steve_b77 Posts: 1,680
    I have Pike U -turns and to be honest I've only ever used it whne messing about after cleaning the bike :?

    Think I'd prefer a low speed compression thingy like you get on teh nice PIKES
  • cee
    cee Posts: 4,553
    im pretty glad others are having the same conundrums as I had!

    In the end I plumped for the Tora 302, with turnkey lockout, but no U-turn, and got it nice and cheap (£85-odds) from merlin cycles

    There seems to be no end to the available options on forks!
    Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I believe in the future of the human race.

    H.G. Wells.